I am your typical housewife living in high maintenance suburbia. I have a handsome husband, 2 kids and a flock of pet chickens. I try and feed my family with $100 a month. With the help of coupons, gardening and bartering I am able to squeeze the most out of our grocery budget and still manage to have a little fun along the way.

6 Reasons Why I Love the Costco Return Policy

One of the many reasons I like to shop at Costco is their return policy. They don’t call it the Risk-Free 100% Satisfaction Guarantee” for nothin’! While I’m not one to take advantage of a store’s lax return policy, I do love shopping and purchasing items knowing that if they don’t meet Costco’s high standards for whatever reason, I can return it. While I’m sure their awesome return policy costs them a good bit of money, I also think it probably encourages their customers to purchase more worry-free since they know that if there are ever any issues, Costco will return the item, no questions asked. Here are 6 reasons why their return policy rocks:

You Don’t Need a Receipt: I have plenty of things to try to keep track of in my life. Not having to worry about a receipt means that’s one less thing I could potentially misplace! All I need is my Costco card and they can look up pretty much anything I’ve purchased at Costco in the history of ever, so no receipt is required for a return since it’s already in their system. Sweet!

You Can Return Anything: You know that tree you planted 2 years ago that just died? They’ll take it back. That opened package of used underwear? {gag} They’ll take it back. A half eaten loaf of bread. Yep. You can return that. An empty bottle of wine that gave you a headache? Please don’t be that person, but if you are, they will seriously let you return that, too {in certain states}. While they WILL take anything back {except diamonds and electronics after 90 days}, I would encourage you not to be unethical about it. Don’t use their return policy as a rental program and grab a paddle board you know you are only using for your beach vacation before returning it. It might be allowed, but it kind of makes you a jerk. So let’s not be jerks, let’s be nice Costco members who are super grateful for this awesome return policy!

You Can Snack While You Return: Okay, so this really has nothing to do with their actual return policy, but I love that if I have a return to make and my stomach is grumbling, I can hop in and grab a sausage on a toothpick or a cracker smeared with cheese spread and then be on my way! Or if it’s a full lunch I need, then $1.50 later and I’ve got my hot dog and soda in hand and lunch is taken care of!

You Don’t Need the Original Packaging: This one I love. It’s right up there with keeping track of receipts. Chances are if I opened something, the packaging is long gone. No worries! You don’t need the original packaging or even the product manual in order to make a return. You just need all the parts and accessories that came with it and you’ll get a full refund.

You Can Try a New Product Worry-Free: Let’s say you see an awesome new bag of trail mix or popcorn or crackers or whatever that you think your kids will love. It’s a Costco-sized bag and sadly, there’s not a sample table out front so you can give it a try. You are 99% sure your family will gobble it up, so you buy it because on the off chance they don’t love it, you can simply bring the bag back, no questions asked. While I rarely end up hating any new food products I try from Costco, there have been a few times I would have been stuck with an $18 mega bag of something my family didn’t love if Costco ‘s return policy wasn’t so great.

That Return Line Moves Crazy Fast: I’m not sure how they do it, but in every Costco I’ve ever been to, they somehow manage to employ world’s fastest cashiers and employees. Seriously. You want a quick slice of pizza but the line is 10 people deep, just blink and you’re at the front of the line. The return line is the same. Sometimes I’ll get there and groan because the return line is so long, but within minutes, I’m first in line. They are crazy efficient and don’t waste my time. That’s another Costco return policy perk!

So there you have it, all the reasons I love Costco’s return policy. How about you? What the craziest thing you’ve ever returned or ever heard of someone returning? Do tell!

I just returned a box of light bulbs last night because when we put them in our bathroom fixtures, it felt like we were on the surface of the sun it was so bright. FYI-they weren’t kidding when they described them as “daylight.”

I suppose that isn’t a strange return, but I do appreciate how easy it was.

I have some friends who kept returning their keurig machine because they would stop working after a year. They had a new keurig machine every year for years.

I love Costco for this reason and buy and return stuff all the time. If I’m not quite sure I want something I often buy it. Their inventory changes so quickly sometimes it’s nice to know I will not miss out. If it isn’t food related and needed right away. I usually leave it in my garage on the table. It’s “out of sight- out of mind” out there and if I haven’t gone to use it after a week or two, I just toss it back in my car and take it back without it cluttering up my house. If I keep it I know it’s something we can really use and not just an impulse/clutter purchase. Costco get some awesome stuff!

Also if I have too many options I really struggle with making a decision. Two or three blenders to choose from I can handle, but 20+ choices at a regular store and it will take me months to decide and a lot of stress. For me Costco’s fewer choices and great return policy really help with my shopping and stress level.

I return food too when it’s gone bad or the occasional we liked the sample, but it tasted bad when we actually bought the product and tried it at home.

They were training someone at the return counter when I was in last week and they were telling her to look for expiration dates. She asked if they keyed it in differently in the system. The other person said, if it’s expired they won’t take it back. I’m not sure if this is true or not.

I have seen the occasional gross abuse of their policy. I stood in line and chatted with a lady who left her 20+ year old folding chairs outside for over a year in Seattle. The inside/card table kind of chairs. ( We’ve used our 10 year old chairs daily for kitchen table chairs and they’re great.) They were fine until she left them outside, but now obviously gross and she was moving so she didn’t want to take them. She wanted her money back! I’m not sure what they did for her, I was rather shocked!
Also have seen someone trying to return dozens of empty expensive wine bottles from a wedding! Not sure what happened there either.

I am a happy Costco member also. One of the things that bugs me, though, is food waste. A couple of weeks ago we were responsible for providing the snacks for 75 people at an event. Naturally, Costco was where I shopped. We ended up with two LARGE containers of unopened cream cheese. I reasoned that if I returned them they would end up in the trash. When returning the ‘dry goods’ (pretzels, veggie straws, etc) I mentioned my ‘fear’ to the cashier and she confirmed it: any perishable items go straight to the garbage! SO……think about how to use those items! (I am freezing the cream cheese in smaller portions to be used in cream sauces, cheese cake, etc. ‘down the road’.). Also, returning opened bags of something you didn’t like sounds a bit ‘iffy’ to me. At a grocery store AND a warehouse grocer I sometimes need to ‘guess’ on a product. For the few times we haven’t liked it, we’ll ‘eat’ the loss

I saw someone return 6 turkeys they decided not to serve for Thanksgiving dinner. Costco refunded their money, then had to throw the (huge) turkeys in the trash because they aren’t sure the person had them in a refrigerator. It’s unbelievable their policy allows this. Food waste makes me crazy!

I’m with Conni. The return policy sounds great except for the food because there is no way they can repackage and sell food that has been opened. If you don’t “love” it, but it is not absolutely terrible, how about adding it to a trail mix you do like instead of throwing away perfectly good food? Even better, if you’re not sure you will like it, don’t take the risk! Let someone else who knows they will like it and eat all of it buy it.

I love Costco! I once opened a bag of broccoli I bought the day before that had gone bad and they returned it without the bag and with no proof, I just told them it was bad and got a refund. Also I bought a diamond ring and one of the diamonds fell out 6 months later and they took the ring to fix it and offered to replace the diamond!! I found the diamond in the carpet a week later and they put it back for me but I thought that was amazing that they would replace something like that.

We’re Costco newbies….bought the card this year because we make maple syrup and use a propane finisher…yes, we’re from Canada 🙂 The savings on propane alone pays for our membership. And, you can’t beat their price on massive amounts of toilet paper! This past month I had to return a pair of 14K gold earrings that I bought that had a loose, but still functioning, clasp. The earrings definitely closed but when I flicked my hair they often went flying….I know, don’t flick my hair! Sorry, the hazards of long hair plus the habit of a lifetime! I returned the earrings in the original box with the receipt and Costco took back the earrings cheerfully with no questions asked. No other place I’ve ever heard of would accept returns of pieced earrings (as they, you know, go through your ears!) Anyway, just putting my two cents in from deep within my fort of Costco toilet paper!!!

I started my membership to Costco for the cheap gas prices and the propane cost. What I save on fuel for my one car makes the membership price worth it. The food is a bonus! 😉

I am flying to Utah in a few weeks and I looked at Costco’s price on rental cars. It definitely is cheaper than booking directly with Enterprise, Budget. etc. Just wanted to inform anyone else who is in need of a rental car.

I returned chicken thighs, WITHOUT having the chicken with me (it smelled bad when I opened it up so I didn’t want to lug it around and stink up my car and the Costco line) they took me at my word and reimbursed me for the price of the meat. In the many years I’ve been a member I’ve maybe returned three things.

Every Purchase from Costco is attached to your Membership Card and thats why you don’t need a receipt. If you said you bought something and its not on your card, then you didn’t buy it. Thats the only time they’d want a receipt. To prevent theft

Does anyone know if Costco considers a HP printer an electronic? I bought it over 90 days ago and it’s not functioning and I want to return it for another one. I’m not sure if it falls under the 90day electronic/computer guideline or if it’s more along the lines of a coffee maker?